Employers Handbook: What it should contain
I am grateful once more to colleagues on sister-site BusinessZONE for the use of the contribution from Vicky Williams of Mazars Neville Russell. The article reminds me of that TV advert, you know, the one where the chap with tin of varnish in his hand says, "It does exactly what it says on the tin!" […]
Oops! The National Record of Achievement Team seem a little behind
News has filtered through this week that the National Record of Achievement team has recently launched a new NRA website that will enable users to download templates (complete with logos if required) for inclusion in the National Record of Achievement folders fiorst introduced some eight years ago.So much for the good news! Telephone orders for […]
The real cost of training
The fully inclusive cost of delivering an advanced modern apprenticeship ranges from some £28,100 for a retail apprenticeship to £51,500 for a craft engineering apprenticeship. The news comes from a report produced for the Association of Learning Providers and the Learning and Skills Development Agency by JM Consulting.The report results focus on training provided by […]
Erasing the rubber health risk
At least 100,000 NHS staff at risk from a potentially life-threatening allergy to latex, could be protected if hospitals and ambulances provided an alternative to the potentially deadly rubber glove, the TUC says in a report today (Wednesday).The TUC report, Rubber banned – the case against latex, says that the number of sufferers includes at […]
Rubber Banned – case studies
The following are case studies extracted from the TUC publication Rubber Banned – the case against latex, issued as a part of their campaign against the use of latex where it can develop serious health risks for employees and the general public.Link to the ‘Erasing the rubber health risk’ articleCase 1Jacqueline Kershaw, a practice nurse […]
Does the answer to city parking rest in Shamanic meditation?
Anyone who’s taken a vehicle into the Scottish capital of Edinburgh will know that parking is not an easy task. Well to be fair the parking is straight forward – it’s finding the space that’s difficult. The whole system is made more interesting by the city’s traffic wardens known locally as the “blue meanies”.APCOA Parking, […]
Breaking the cycle of low self-esteem
Possibly useful as a resource for trainers and HR practitioners one of mental health charity MIND‘s latest publications tackles the issue of low self-esteem.Low self-esteem can leave you feeling low, depressed and hopeless about life. On the other hand good self-esteem can make us feel like the world is a good place full of friends, […]
Money for bullying crackdown and work-life balance development and training
Government Employment Relations Minister, Alan Johnson, is reported to have announced that companies aiming to have a crackdown on bullying and wishing to develop better work-life balance and family friendly policies will benefit from a £1.5 million payment from the Partnership at Work Fund.The money from the fund will be used for training and other […]
Unions and business leaders agree thousands of jobs are at risk
Responding to figures showing an official recession in the manufacturing sector, Brendan Barber, TUC Deputy General Secretary, said, "Last week's interest rate cut was a welcome move but there is far more we could be doing to help our manufacturing sector. Britain gives less state aid to manufacturing than almost any other country in Europe. […]
Corporate manslaughter verdict
"Companies which flout health and safety laws at the expense of their employees' safety will be made to pay." That is the message sent out to the construction industry today as Wisbech company English Brothers Ltd. was convicted of causing the death of gang-foreman Bill Larkman. The company was fined £30,000 plus £12,500 costs after […]
Raise the profile of your T&D function with an ‘internal identity’
Lynn Fraser of The Wayland Partnership is the contributor of the following guest article. We will be publishing more articles from Lynn during the next fortnightOrganisations invest hugely in training and development to both make the most of current employees and attract the very best potential employees. The investment is wasted if no one knows […]
No brave new world for home teleworking
Frequent predictions of a work revolution as office jobs go to be replaced by people working from home using high tech links have failed to materialise, according to a TUC report published on Friday. Instead home computers are more likely to be used by stressed executives taking work home this weekend or by the kind […]
What to do when your staff miss deadlines
This week’s FTdynamo column allows Prof. Robert Austin of Harvard Business School a platform for airing his views that the way to treat staff who don’t meet deadlines is to tighten the timescales!If employees consistently miss deadline and are over-stretched and stressed, the answer is not to give them more time but to impose even […]
What do you do in your five minute mini-breaks?
I’m a lucky fella. I have a wonderful family, and a job that I enjoy, and being a teleworker I work at home most of the time. I sit in my office in front of the screen but that’s maybe where the downside comes into play, because teleworkers, working in isolated situations can find themselves […]
Training 1.5 million employees – a logistical challenge
With over 28,000 outlets across 120 countries, and a product and service standardisation across all of those outlets, McDonald’s burger chain has a big task in maintaining training consistency through the organisation.The organisation cannot afford to stand still in its training activities, and keeping some 1.5 million employees upto date in training could be a […]
HOT PRESS! Bank rates reduced…. European rates remain unchanged
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee has just announced that it is reducing interest rates by 0.25% to 5% Reactions and further news to be added as they arrive See last weeks HR Briefing editorial European Central BankPRESS RELEASEMonetary policy decisions2 August 2001 At today's meeting, which was held in the form of a […]
Consultation starts on winding up occupational pensions
Draft Regulations setting out measures to speed up and introduce greater accountability into the winding up of occupational pension schemes were yesterday issued for consultation.Launching the consultation document the Minister for Pensions, Ian McCartney, said: “These Regulations are a significant step towards making the process of winding up pension schemes more efficient and transparent. This […]
TUC: Successful RSI cases are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’
For every person who wins compensation for repetitive strain injury (RSI) there are another 50 suffering in silence, according to the TUC.Over 150,000 people each year are suffering RSI but just 3,000 managed to take a successful case last year. The TUC hopes that better preparation will help more sufferers to obtain fair compensation, while […]
Home Office statement on ‘Code Red’ worm
The following is the complete statement by the UK Government Home Office on the impact of the Code Red worm in the UK – the statement is accompanied by briefing notesEarly indications are that the impact of the Code Red worm appears to have been minimal. Fears that the worm would have a potentially devastating […]
Worker safety adviser pilot scheme goes to York
Health and Safety Commission Chair Bill Callaghan announced that the Health and Safety Executive has awarded a contract to run its Worker Safety Adviser (WSA) pilot scheme to York Consulting of Leeds. This is a step to developing consultation and partnership over health and safety in the workplace.The scheme will introduce specially trained safety advisers […]
